Curious life of an Apprentice

Supporting National Apprenticeship Week

You’re probably asking yourself: what does my future look like? Do I want to continue studying or launch my career now?
Not sure yet? National Apprenticeship Week is the perfect opportunity for you to find out more about the options open to you.

Meet our Apprentices

Does it take a certain type of person to be an apprentice? Will I be able to make an impact? What will my family and peers think if I don’t go to university? And what about my social life?

Step inside the lives of our apprentices and discover what it means to be an apprentice at Deloitte – find out about their journey, meet their loved ones, and see how their personality traits drive how they work (and play!).

Case studies

“I’m given a lot of responsibility but have so much support, I’m constantly learning and developing, which I love.”

I’m so glad I joined Tax. My team is amazing, they make coming to work a real joy. I’m given a lot of responsibility but have so much support, I’m constantly learning and developing, which I love.

I’ve worked with some huge clients – Apple, Amazon, Google. One of the things we help them with is something called BEPS – Based Erosion & Profit Sharing. This is a really important issue in corporate tax right now, it’s all about making sure clients are paying tax in the right country. So when one of their customers buys something in the UK, the client has to pay tax for that in the UK. Our work helps them avoid millions of pounds in fines.

It’s my role to do the first draft of any client documents we create. Being given the freedom to have a go is really empowering. I’ve created a Masterfile for a number of our clients, it’s a broad overview of the client’s group of companies. I research all the information, check it’s correct, and then review it with my manager, making amends until it’s right.

The opportunities here are endless. I was promoted by two grades in my first year because of my hard work and enthusiasm, I’m immensely proud of that. Being a BrightStart means I get to earn a living and a professional qualification, all whilst learning from some of the best minds in the industry.

“I thrive on learning actual skills and getting hands-on experience, so I felt that university would just delay that.”

I thrive on learning actual skills and getting hands-on experience, so I felt that university would just delay that. I knew I wanted to work in finance so the BrightStart scheme was the perfect opportunity for me.

I’d only been here six months when I went to Norway for a project; we were helping a client develop their Basel II taxonomy. Basel II sets out recommendations relating to laws and regulations that aim to control the level of capital banks hold to safeguard against the financial and operational risks they face.

My role was to research how similar organisations manage implementation of Basel II guidance. Once we identified common themes across these organisations, we could assess who had been successful and why; based on this analysis we developed recommendations for our client. I went to the Deloitte Norway office - along with two senior members of my team - to present our findings and offer advice to the Norwegian team. I felt so proud that I was asked to be a part of the project, and being involved in the presentation was a fantastic learning experience.

There are so many different opportunities and potential career paths here. I’ve seen myself grow so much. I was worried I wouldn’t fit in because I didn’t go to university, but that wasn’t the case at all. My confidence has improved massively, and I’ve really surprised myself with what I’ve been capable of.

“Working on a Robotics Process Automation project has been a real eye opener.”

I considered university, but felt it made more sense to start my career earlier with a BrightStart Apprenticeship. I’d be studying the CIMA qualification whilst gaining experience and building my network, I’d also have no debt.

I didn’t know much about technology, so working on a Robotics Process Automation (RPA) project has been a real eye opener. Any process that doesn’t require human judgement can potentially be automated using RPA, so it opens up a world of opportunities for our clients. It’s so exciting to be involved in something so innovative.

My current project is for a large retailer. I’m leading the online business area. I talk to our client to understand what processes they have in place currently and define what can be automated. I have to understand every single input and output for each process, so I can share that with our developers.

We’re about to go live with the new robotic processes. It’s so rewarding to see our hard work make an impact for the client. It will save time and money, and their staff will be free to work on things that add more value.

I felt very nervous about voicing my opinion when I first started, but we’re encouraged to speak out and to take on challenging roles. Every day there is the opportunity to learn, I’m so proud of how far I’ve come in the last year!

I knew I wanted to become a Chartered Accountant and felt an apprenticeship was the best route. It’s enabled me to study for my professional qualifications whilst gaining invaluable work experience.

The Entry Level scheme was perfect. It meant that I could join my local office in Cardiff working in the Delivery Centre. We provide crucial administrative support to all the businesses across Deloitte. I worked in Tax, helping our clients ensure they were legally compliant with all of their documentation. I got to work with lots of big, well-known clients, which was really exciting.

As well as enjoying my job, I loved spending a day a week in college with the other Entry Level Apprentices studying for my Level 3 Diploma in Business Administration. I also visit local schools and help students with their applications to Deloitte – it’s brilliant to support people who are in the same position I was in only a couple of years ago. The social life is good too. With 800 people working at Deloitte Cardiff, there’s always something going on.

I’m now an Audit BrightStart - I was the first apprentice to achieve that in Cardiff, which I’m really proud of. I have lots of client contact and more responsibility, as well as getting to travel regularly too. I’ve started my Chartered Accountant studies, so am well on the road to achieving my career goals. I couldn’t have wished for a better start.

“I was really keen to gain hands-on experience from the start. The project I’ve been on since I joined has absolutely given me that, and more.”

I was really keen to gain hands-on experience from the start. That’s why I chose a BrightStart Apprenticeship over going to university. The project I’ve been on since I joined has absolutely given me that, and more.

We are developing and implementing an automated process that helps our client work faster and more effectively. It’s my role to test that the interaction between the software and the person operating it is working properly – this can be anything from a new website or mobile application, to large scale system upgrades.

I’m often on client sites, providing updates and helping resolve any issues. My proudest moment was taking part in a showcase we gave to the client – I had to present where we are with the project, how we are taking it forward, as well as do some live testing and answer any questions the client had. It was an amazing opportunity given I’d only been here a year.

I’ve also made an impact elsewhere on the project, by training some of our client’s other service providers on how to use the new software.

Not only am I loving the work, but the social life is great too. I was worried that I’d miss out on that by not going to university, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. It’s been an incredible start to my career.

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